Umbrella



June 5- 1923 1,457,679

- 5. c. VINCENT UMBRELLA Filed Aug. 11, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 5,1923 S. C. VINCENT UMBRELLA 2 Sheets- Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 11 1921Patented June 5, 1923.

PATENT".

SIDNEY c. VINCENT, or BALTIMOR MARYLAND.

UMBRELLA.

Application filed August 11, 1921. Serial No. 491,435.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that SIDNEY C. Yn rcan'r,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore city, in the Stateof Maryland, has invented certain new and useful Improvements inUmbrellas," of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in umbrellas.

The primary object of the invention 1s to provide a very simple andinexpensive umbrella, in fact so inexpensive as to warrant its beingthrown away after the emergency for which its use, such as belng caught1n a sudden and unexpected rain, has been satisfied. It contemplates anumbrella, the canopy or top of which is made of amaterial that has beenwaterproofed sufficiently to withstand moisture for sufficient length oftime to serve the purpose for which it IS 1ntended, such as waterproofpaper, and the various ribs and braces, as well as the handle, may bealso made of paper.

So far as I am aware, the folding and unfolding features are entirelynew, since this umbrella is not raised and lowered in the usual way, butfolded fiat or substantially fiat when not in use, and unfolded and"built up when desired for use, and the arrangements are such that theseoperations may be quickly and conveniently accomplished, so that to all,regardless of the degree of mechanical skill possessed by them, themanner of quick assemblage, will be obvious.

In the drawings illustrating the invention- Fig. 1 is a perspective viewof the umbrella raised.

Fig. 2 is an inverted perspectlve vlew.

Fig. 3 is a detail plan of the central portion of the umbrella with thecentral dlsc removed.

Fig. 4- is a detail sectional view showing the manner of attaching theribs to the 45 canopy or top.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the top, folded.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section taken about on line 6-6 of Figure 1.

Fig. 7 is an inverted perspective view of a slightly modified formwherein a different form of spanner is used.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of such spanner with part of thelower portion 55 of the rod attached, and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the modified form taken about on a centralline.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the top or canopy,which as before stated,'is' preferably made of waterproof paper, and maybe, of course, colored as fancy may dictate, preferably a dark color toresemble as much as possible an ordinary umbrella, and indeed, tofurther such resemblance, the paper may be impressed in imitation of afabric like a linen paper. Referring particularly to Figure 3, thenumerals 2, 3 and 4 designate V-shaped ribs, which are made of heavycardboard, the ribs being deep at their angles as indicated at 5, andtapering to 1points as indicated at 6 at the outer edge 0 the canopy .orcover 1. As shown in Fig. 4, these ribs are secured to the canopy bymeans of long strips 7, which may be glued or otherwise attached, partlyto the canopy and partly to the ribs. The section a of the canopy isprovided with an additional rib 8 conforming in shape to the adjacentribs which rib is also preferably made of heavy cardboard, so that whenthe canopy is unfolded from the positionshown in Figure 5, and itslateral edges brought together, the rib 8 may be secured to one of thelegs of the adjacent rib. which as shown in Figure 3, is the rib 2. Forfastening the rib 8 to the leg of the adjacent rib when the umbrella isin expanded or open position, I provide a metallic clip 9, pivoted at 10to one of the legs of the rib 2, the clip being preferably made ofresilient material so as to wedge down, and thereby tightly and snuglyembrace a very considerable portion of the surface of the rib 8 and leg2, thus holding the umbrella canopy in open or expanded condition. i Y

The numeral 11 designates the umbrella rod, and the arrangement is suchthat the rod not only serves as support for the canopy or cover when theumbrella is in use, but serves as additional strengthening and bracingmeans for keeping all of the ribs in proper radial position. This isaccomplished by the provision of a disk 12 provided with three V-shapedslots or recesses 13, which receive the ends of corresponding] shaped105 spanner sections 14, which lie in t e angles of the V-shaped ribs,as clearly shown in Figure 2. Both the disk and the spanner sections maybe made of paper, and the rod is preferably, securely attached to thedisk 110 with, as shown in Figure 6, a portion of the rod extendingabove the disk as indicated at 15, which portion extends through anaperture 16 in the center of the unfolded canopy, where above the canopyit is provided with an aperture 17 for the reception of a pin 18 betweenwhich and the top of the canopy is interposed a washer 19. To giveadditional rigidity to the ribs, should such rigiditybc necessary, I mayprovide braces 20, which are made by partly cutting out a portion of onerib in such a way as to leave on the partly cut-out portion'a head 21,which cooperates with a T-shaped slot 22 on the opposite rib, as shownclearly in Figure 2.

To prevent leakage of water down the rod, I prefer to provide a guard 23of the general contour of the canopy except, of course, as illustrated,of only sufficient diameter to cover the central portion of the topzorcanopy.

eferring now to the modifications, Figures 7, 8 and 9, the rib andcanopy structures are identical with those in the main figures, but herethe umbrella rod is made in two pieces, and the lower piece or handleproper is designated by the numeral 24, which is hollow, and attachedsecurely to a spanner 25, provided with three legs 26, which lie in andembrace the angles of the rib sections, as shown in Figure 7.

The upper part of the rod in this form is separable from the lower part,and is indicated by the numeral 27, and is received in the tubular lowerportion, as shown in Figure 9, there being provided in the lower part ofthe rod an aperture 30, adapted to register with a similar aperture 31in the upper part, the apertures being adapted'to receive a transversepin 32, by which the upper and lower sections of the rod are heldtogether. In this form, the pin at the top of the rod is dispensed with,and a permanent washer 33 is provided, which limits the downwardmovement of the upper part of the rod when the parts are beingassembled, it being obvious that the upper movement of the lower tubularpart is limited by engagement of the spanner disk 25 with the loweredges of the angles of the ribs.

Assuming the umbrella canopy to be folded as shown in Figure 5, and itis desired to attach the rod and parts carried thereby, or in otherwords, to build the umbrella for use, one of the legs of rib 2 isbrought against the additional rib 8, and the metallic clip clamped downover the upper edges, of both of them. The upper portion of the rod 11is then inserted through the aperture at the top of the canopy bringingthe spanner sections within the angles of the ribs when the washer isplaced at the upper end of the rod, and the pin 18 passed through theaperture 17 above the washer, when the umbrella will be ready for use.

aae'neve I have found by experiment that an exceptionally rigidstructure can be built up in this way by the use of appropriatecardboard, as it will be seen that the various parts perform doublefunctions, that is to say, they by their cooperation provide strength,and at the same time permit the presence of the general structuralcharacteristics of an ordinary umbrella.

To assemble the umbrella illustrated in Figures 7, 8 and 9, the upperpart of the rod is inserted through the top of the umbrella into thetubular section below the canopy with the legs 26 in the angles of theribs, when the pin 32 is ut through both sections of the rod, thusringing about a ri id useful structure.

eferrin more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 34 designatesa flap preferably secured to the marginal edge of the canopy 1 on theside that carries the extra rib 8. This flap, as shown more clearly inFigure 1, is ada ted to slightly overlie the opposite edge 0 the canopyto prevent leakage through the cover where the two cover edges arebrought together.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the canopy or top of theumbrella when not in use may be folded into very compact form, asillustrated in Figure 5, and the rod and parts carried thereby, togetherwith the folded top may very conveniently be inserted in an envelopeadapted for its reception, and the whole device in knockeddown form maybe readily handled for sale disposition and other purposes.

While I have described throughout in the foregoing an umbrella intendedfor temporary use, and made in the main of paper and cardboard, I desireit to be understood that I consider it quite within the spirit of thisinvention to make the umbrella top of cloth or other material as usual,and to make the other parts, such as the ribs, rod and partscarriedthereby of material other than paper whereby, a permanent lastingstructure will result, and one which may be readily assembled for use,and knockeddown for transportation-say for instance, in a suitcase orgrip of ordinary dimensions.

Claims:

1. An umbrella comprising a canopy nor-' unfolded position, a pluralityof V-shaped ribs secured a) the underside of the canopy with theirangles converging at the center thereof, a rod carrying near its top aspanner formed .with sections adapted to lie within the angles of theribs whereby the ribs are held in properly spaced radial position.

3. An umbrella comprisin a canopy nor mally completely severed f rom itscenter to its margin, means for securing the canopy edges together whenthe canopy is in unfolded position, a plurality of V-shaped ribs securedto the underside of the canopy with their angles converging at thecenter thereof, a rod carrying near its top a disk adapted to overliethe angles of the ribs, said disk being further provided with aplurality of spanner sections adapted to lie within the angles of theribs, the rod being adapted to extend through the canopy, and meansabove the canopy for further securing the rod to the canopy.

4. An umbrella comprlsing a canopy normally completely severed from itscenter to its mar n, said canopy being formed of waterproo paper, aplurality of V-shaped ribs secured to the underside of the canop withtheir angles at the center thereo said ribs taperin in depth from thecenter to the margin 0 the canopy, means for securing the cano y edgestogether when the canopy is in un .olded position, an umbrella rod, andmeans for bracing the legs of the ribs apart when the umbrella is inunfolded position.

5. An umbrella comprising a canopy or top, V-shaped ribs secured to theunderside of the canopy, means engagin the angles of said ribs to holdthem In ra ial position, and a suitable rod attached to the canopy andconsisting of an upper section and a lower detachable section connectedto the upper section beneath the canopy for supporting the same.

6. An umbrella comprising a canopy or cover, -shaped ribs secured to theunderside of said canopy or cover, said ribs be ing of considerabledepth adjacent to center of the cover and tapering toward the outermargin thereof, and a rod havin means for engaging the V-shaped ribs axf-jacent their angles for holding the ribs in radial position.

7. An umbrella comprising a cover, V- shaped ribs secured to theunderside of said cover, said ribs being capable of a folding action attheir angles whereby they may be brought to lie side by side, meansengagin the angles of the ribs to hold them in ra ial position, and asuitable rod attached to the canopy and consistin of an upper sectionand a lower detacha le section connected to the u per section beneaththe cover for supportlng the upper part or the structure.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SIDNEY C. VINCENT.

Witnesses:

TITIAN W. JoHNsoN, C. B. BULL.

